MI fielding coach Rhodes turns spotlight on fielding

Jonty Rhodes, the Mumbai Indians cricket coach, feels the notion that Indians are poor fielders is misplaced. “Just have a look at the last year's IPL. Someone like Rahul Dravid was really good, and Sourav Ganguly took an exceptional catch against us. He's the last guy I would have expected to dive around, but the IPL has made that happen,” said Rhodes, looking as lithe as ever.

The fielding coach sounded quite happy with the way his team was shaping up for the championship. “I have had a camp with the junior and younger player of the side and I am really well with their fielding skills. The inclusion of the players like R. Sathish and Ambati Rayudu from the ICL and Saurabh Tiwary has made us a very sharp fielding unit,” said Rhodes.

But what about the senior players? “Well, I don't expect someone like Zaheer Khan to lead the charge on the field. He's in anyways giving me what's expected of him. I want them to do as well as they possibly could,” he said.

With fielding standards always high in countries like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, Rhodes predicts that this tournament is going to witness highest fielding standards. “It's going to be really intense,” he said.

Champs League to be under strict controls

The second Champions League Twenty20 will be played under strict anti-corruption controls due to the Pakistan match-fixing scandal.

Organisers said the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, a local security firm and ground officials will all be on alert when 10 teams compete for the title from Friday.

Three IPL teams, two T20 sides each from Australia and South Africa and the domestic champions from New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies will be competing.